Debit card warning

I had something unusual happen to me this week. I went to use my Visa Check Card at the ATM at work and it was denied saying that it was on an invalid account. I called the bank and they told me that Visa had notified them that a lot of the cards had been compromised. The bank then cancelled all the debit cards that were affected. I have been watching my account and there haven't been any fraudulent charges. I had received a new card from my bank a couple of days previously because they are changing to a Mastercard Check card. I just thought it was scarey that this happened. The girl at the bank told me she had had lots of calls regarding this and to expect a letter.

I applaud the bank for putting the kabosh on the card. It's about time this problem is being dealt with. Even though it was an inconvenience it's a lot better than going the other route. If you card were to be fraudulantly used you would be reimbursed the moneys. But it's at least a thirty day process. Ever wonder about your digital signature you leave on those machines at the cash register?

I heard on the news that debit cards are not covered by credit card laws.
If a thief emptied our bank account, I wonder if we would be protected?

This is a good question. My friend owned a landscaping buisiness and one of his workers stole a check from him, forged it and cashed it at one of those sleezy check cashing joints. The check cashing joint ended up liable. I wonder if the PIN number is as good as a signature? Could we get cleaned out? If you leave the keys in your car and it gets stolen will an insurance company pay for the theft? PIN numbers are just like keys. I wonder now to what degree we are protected?

The banks will reinburse you for fraudulent charges on the check card. A few years ago, I bought a painting in Santa Barbara at the art show and paid with my check card. The merchant charged me twice but the bank reversed one of the charges once it was brought to their attention. I can't remember how long it took.

Originally Posted by xocats

I heard on the news that debit cards are not covered by credit card laws.

If a thief emptied our bank account, I wonder if we would be protected?

Click to expand...

Don't be surprised if the bank balks at reimbursing you! Someone somehow got ahold of my bank's routing number & my account number & made online purchases. The bank officer called the service providers and there is no record of my name, address, telephone or any other personal information. The purchases were done with e-checks, not the ATM or Visa card. Anyway, I recently received a letter from the fraud division of the bank that they will not be reimbursing me for the funds as it is a civil dispute and that I need to seek reimbursment from the wrongdoer! Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Times had a column on that very issue, and asked for readers to send in their stories and was deluged by people who had the same responses from their banks, incl. BofA, WellsFargo, WashingtonMutual,UnionBank, etc.
So now I am doing my own detective work, calling the numbers myself, to find out these internet businesses' info. so I can take it to the district attorney, but apparently these cases are often impossible to prosecute & get recovery.
Anyone have ideas on how we can protect ourselves?

We burn anything and everything with a bank name, social security, phone number, ANYTHING with ANY important information on it that we don't need, we burn it.

Then we're careful with who's around us when we're using the card. We bought a safe at walmart that holds our important information incase anything were to happen. *knock on wood* so far we have been lucky.

We also check our account atleast 3 times a day online